In her final words, a Bronx mother cops say was stabbed to death by her longtime boyfriend apologized to her children — who witnessed her bloody slaying and tried in vain to stop it.
Yesenia Hall, 42, was knifed multiple times in neck, back and torso early Saturday in the family’s apartment on Sherman Ave. near E. 163rd St., according to prosecutors.
“My mother’s last words to me were, ‘I’m sorry. I’m dying. I’m sorry,’” the victim’s daughter, Jaylah Maldonado, 22, wrote on GoFundMe.
Obtained by Daily News
Yesenia Hall was stabbed multiple times in her apartment on Sherman Ave. in Saturday. (Obtained by Daily News)
Hall’s longtime live-in boyfriend, Juan Rivas, 45, was arrested later that day and has been charged with her murder.
After waking up to their mother’s screams, Jaylah and her 16-year-old brother ran to Hall’s bedroom, where they saw Rivas stabbing her, Jaylah recounted on the GoFundMe she set up to help support the family in the wake of their mom’s death.
As Jaylah’s 16-year-old brother pushed Jaylah out of the way and tried to save their mother, Rivas allegedly turned the knife on the boy, stabbing him in the neck, cheek and shoulder.
“My mother and brother were struck with a sharp weapon multiple times as I witnessed and was unable to help in any way due to my brother pushing me away, saving me from the altercation,” Jaylah wrote.
“I took the opportunity to call the police as my mother and brother fought for their lives. Unfortunately, my mother did not make it.”
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Police investigate inside the apartment building on Sherman Ave. in the Bronx on Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
The wound to Hall’s brave son’s neck has left him temporarily unable to speak as he recovers at Lincoln Hospital. His mother died after being rushed to the same hospital by medics.
“He’s going to get to live,” Hall’s brother, Edwin Maldonado, said Sunday of his hero nephew. “Thank God he is out of surgery. He is in stable condition. He is not talking. He just writes right now.”
Edwin shared a note the teen wrote out by hand from his hospital bed: “Thank you so much Doctor your a life saver no joke.”
Hall’s 12-year-old son was also in the apartment when his mom was stabbed but only learned Monday, when the whole family gathered, that she didn’t survive.
“He was asking why so many people [were there] and if there is a party,” Edwin said. “I pulled him into a private room. … He was in total shock, eyes wide open with very small tears. Nervous and scared.”
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Juan Rivas is arraigned at Bronx Criminal Court on Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Rivas had a history of arrests for accusation of domestic violence against Hall. Prosecutors said cops had responded to five prior violent clashes between them.
In January 2022, Rivas was arrested for allegedly punching Hall in the face, according to police. In November 2018, he was arrested after grabbing Hall’s arm and throwing her to the ground in a fit of rage that also led him to break a TV, a door and a picture frame, according to police.
Rivas’ right hand was bandaged at the wrist and palm when he appeared in Bronx Criminal Court Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Rivas was also arrested for assault in February 2012 and January 2011 and was busted for weapon possession in 2003.
“I know she has received multiple previous injuries from him,” Edwin Maldonado said. “The guy is not good and he had a record before, and we have tried so much.”
GoFundMe
Yesenia Hall. (GoFundMe)
Hours after the violence, Rivas was nabbed when he turned up at a local hospital seeking treatment for his own wounds from the clash, prosecutors said. Rivas’ right hand was bandaged at the wrist and palm when he appeared in Bronx Criminal Court Sunday. He was ordered held without bail.
”I would never blame my mother for her DV [domestic violence] situation ever,” Jaylah wrote on the GoFundMe page. “It’s difficult to go through, and she was extremely loved by her family and friends.”